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Agadir		 Pirate Coast
Cape of Noun: South Sus		 End of Trip


Leo notes
Pirate notes
Cristel notes


According to Leo Africanus, Barbary, or the Maghreb (Morocco today) extends as far South as "Noun", a cape which European navigators identified as the furthest Southern point before veering West towards the Canary Islands.In today's terms, this Cape Noun most probably corresponds to the old Spanish colony of Sidi Ifni, half way between Agadir and Laayoune.

The Cape Noun, and the entire Atlantic Coast, south of Agadir, held a mystical place in navigational folklore. Writing about the Cape, our Portuguese navigator Duarte says:


"The virtuous Infante D. Henrique started his exploration beyond the Cape Noun. Before his time people could be heard saying: He who travels to the Cape of Noun might or might no come back. This fear was grounded in the Cape's great distance from Lisbon; even though it is no more than 200 leagues. Today, thanks to this honorable lord, even our King can travel to India, 4000 leagues from Portugal" (Duarte 257)

The Portuguese sailing past the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) he is referring to happened a few years after Leo left Africa. Yet it does indicate the relative superiority in knowledge held by the Europeans in terms of coastal geography. While Christians knew that Africa extended beyond the Cape, Leo believed it ended there!